The best changes in schools happen when teachers are part of that change!

The best changes in schools happen when teachers are part of that change!

I am currently involved in an ETF project to support innovation in teaching and learning in Serbian vocational schools. Last year, the schools that applied for participation were selected, and the teachers underwent training.

Six schools applied for the project, with some 30 highly motivated teachers, and through the first phase of teacher training and guidance, 9 projects were created and are currently being implemented.

As I am a teacher in a secondary vocational school that educates 12 different educational profiles in 4 areas of work, I know how difficult it is to motivate students. The pandemic has made things even more difficult - much teaching has moved on line, requiring new skills,  and schools have been closed and reopened.

Serbia and our education system have poor results in PISA tests, which show that more than 40% of 15-year-olds are functionally illiterate. Teachers' salaries are below the national average and the general opinion is that teachers in Serbia are dissatisfied, unmotivated, unprofessional! For me it has been wonderful to work with more than 50 teachers, highly motivated and full of great ideas on how to make learning interesting to students and how to design authentic tasks that are completely relevant to the teaching process. These wonderful colleagues restore hope that education in Serbia can be made meaningful, better and can be designed so that students learn through solving real problems and answer students' most common question: "What will it do for me?"

At this stage, I am cooperating with two schools, the Chemical Medical School from Vršac and the Technical School from Užice.

The Chemical Medical School from Vršac devised a project in which it included all the educational profiles it teaches. They decided to make a line of cosmetic creams for young people, which they named "Biljana". Through their project, students will go through all stages of product development, from researching the attitudes and usual behavior of young people in relation to the use of cosmetics, through the analysis of raw materials and devising a formula for a new cosmetic line, as well as its production. In addition, they will design a marketing campaign to advertise their products among young people, a logo and the look of the packaging itself. Through this project, they will learn what makes a quality cosmetic line, what you should pay attention to when choosing a cream, but also how to work in a team, how to cooperate, respect the opinion of others and argue your position.

It is important that through this project we have connected teachers who cooperate, devise and implement new teaching methods and new ways of teaching. This kind of project empowers teachers and students: everyone is connected to each other and they learn to work together to solve problems as they come along.  Usually in the practice of education in Serbia, teachers do not have to cooperate with each other, there is no joint work or interdisciplinary endeavors in teaching, as if life and science were divided as they divided into the school subjects. In this project teachers and students have made teaching and learning more motivating because they have put these parts back together. The project will certainly change the school climate in the long run and improve the way the school works. I expect this to become the way they work every year, connecting both students and teachers. The best changes in schools happen when teachers are part of that change, when they see that it brings good and when in the end they say "We do it in our school like this".

The other school I work with is the Technical School from Uzice. A great school that has made great progress in its work so far. Our project includes teachers and students with an educational profile that started only this year in their school. This program trains Internet and graphic design technicians. At moment when they are introducing a  new educational profile in the school, they got the opportunity to be creative through the ETF project, to try a new and different approach. My colleagues from Uzice, encouraged by teacher Nikola Cosic, were so motivated that they decided to undertake two projects!

In one project, students create an "online store" and design a website where they will offer various graphic products and digital images. Working in a team, each of the students develops a part and all together create a website that is a product of the project. I have always believed that vocational high schools should guide students through the entire process of their profession and come up with products during their schooling. The novelty here is that through an authentic task that connects several subjects, students will get to the finished product.

The second project involves more teachers and final year students. They, in cooperation with other schools from Serbia that participate in our project, are creating a website - in both English and Serbian -  that will present all of the schools and their projects. Through this work, students have an authentic task commissioned by an international client, the ETF. Their website will be visible beyond the borders of our country and will communicate the professionalism and creativity of Serbian vocational students. In addition, we are developing cooperation among teachers, among students of the same school, but also among students of this school and other schools in the project. In this way schools, working together, can help to make learning more realistic.

We are currently halfway through the project, and for now teachers are following the plan that has been prepared and managing to implement the plan, despite problems with the Covid 19 pandemic and frequent switching between face to face and distant teaching modes. As normal teaching and learning returns, Serbian vocational teachers are positive about innovation and the future of education.